Muckamore: Patient suffered 'atrocious' weight loss in hospital
- Published
The mother of a former patient at Muckamore Abbey Hospital has said her son lost "an atrocious amount of weight" every time he was admitted to the facility.
The man was identified as patient 101 to protect his identity.
He has bipolar and autism diagnoses.
His mother told an inquiry into abuse at the facility that at one point her son was "skin and bone" and "he went down to 46 kilos, which is very skinny given he is 5ft 8".
She believes his weight loss was because of "just how unhappy that he was" at Muckamore, as he gained weight again outside the hospital.
Patient 101, who is now aged 44 and has been resettled elsewhere, was admitted to the facility periodically between 2009 and 2017.
'Mummy I'm so scared'
His mother said she was "promised there would be lots of facilities and that staff and a behavioural team would work with him".
She said he had "moments of bad behaviour and sometimes got aggressive" but doesn't believe he was ever monitored by a behavioural team while on the ward.
"He spent all his time in his bedroom. He wouldn't say anything bad about anyone but on one occasion he said 'mummy I'm so scared I won't get out of this place'."
P101's mother told the inquiry that she "felt some staff had an attitude".
She said she asked a staff member about how her son was and was told: "He is in my face everywhere I go, he just won't shut up."
The patient's mother said no one sat with her son and "no one had time for him".
"I got the impression he would be roughly handled by staff," she added.
P101's mother said her son had become institutionalised and changed following his time at Muckamore Abbey Hospital
P101's mother said he could at times be angry and on one occasion threw a shampoo bottle.
She said P101 told her that a nurse "took him into a room and she sat on him. He told her to get off him and she said 'I can do whatever I want, you hurt my friend."
His mother believes P101 changed after his time in Muckamore.
"He's very institutionalised. When he came out of MAH he was like a zombie," she explained.
"He used to be trustful but he has now lost that. I fear he does not trust me either.
"I'm distressed that I allowed him to be placed in Muckamore Abbey Hospital where I thought he would get good care and help.
"He's broken over the past few years. He's just not the same. He doesn't communicate as well.
"He has found that there isn't anywhere right for him in this world."